Overload detection and handling in a data breakout appliance at the edge of a mobile data network

ABSTRACT

Mobile network services are performed in an appliance in a mobile data network in a way that is transparent to most of the existing equipment in the mobile data network. The mobile data network includes a radio access network and a core network. The appliance in the radio access network breaks out data coming from a basestation, and performs one or more mobile network services at the edge of the mobile data network based on the broken out data. The appliance has defined interfaces and defined commands on each interface that allow performing all needed functions on the appliance without revealing details regarding the hardware and software used to implement the appliance. The appliance includes overload detection and handling within the appliance. This appliance architecture allows performing new mobile network services at the edge of a mobile data network within the infrastructure of an existing mobile data network.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

This disclosure generally relates to mobile data systems, and morespecifically relates to breakout out of data by an appliance at the edgeof a mobile data network in a way that is transparent to existingequipment in the mobile data network so one or more mobile networkservices may be performed at the edge of the mobile data network inresponse to the broken-out data.

2. Background Art

Mobile phones have evolved into “smart phones” that allow a user notonly to make a call, but also to access data, such as e-mails, theinternet, etc. Mobile phone networks have evolved as well to provide thedata services that new mobile devices require. For example, 3G networkscover most of the United States, and allow users high-speed wirelessdata access on their mobile devices. In addition, phones are not theonly devices that can access mobile data networks. Many mobile phonecompanies provide equipment and services that allow a subscriber to pluga mobile access card into a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port on a laptopcomputer, and provide wireless internet to the laptop computer throughthe mobile data network. In addition, some newer mobile phones allow themobile phone to function as a wireless hotspot, which supportsconnecting several laptop computers or other wireless devices to themobile phone, which in turn provides data services via the mobile datanetwork. As time marches on, the amount of data served on mobile datanetworks will continue to rise exponentially.

Mobile data networks include very expensive hardware and software, soupgrading the capability of existing networks is not an easy thing todo. It is not economically feasible for a mobile network provider tosimply replace all older equipment with new equipment due to the expenseof replacing the equipment. For example, the next generation wirelessnetwork in the United States is the 4G network. Many mobile data networkproviders are still struggling to get their entire system upgraded toprovide 3G data services. Immediately upgrading to 4G equipment is notan economically viable option for most mobile data network providers. Inmany locations, portions of the mobile data network are connectedtogether by point to point microwave links. These microwave links havelimited bandwidth. To significantly boost the throughput of these linksrequires the microwave links to be replaced with fiber optic cable butthis option is very costly.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Mobile network services are performed in an appliance in a mobile datanetwork in a way that is transparent to most of the existing equipmentin the mobile data network. The mobile data network includes a radioaccess network and a core network. The appliance in the radio accessnetwork breaks out data coming from a basestation, and performs one ormore mobile network services at the edge of the mobile data networkbased on the broken out data. The appliance has defined interfaces anddefined commands on each interface that allow performing all neededfunctions on the appliance without revealing details regarding thehardware and software used to implement the appliance. The applianceincludes overload detection and handling within the appliance. Thisappliance architecture allows performing new mobile network services atthe edge of a mobile data network within the infrastructure of anexisting mobile data network.

The foregoing and other features and advantages will be apparent fromthe following more particular description, as illustrated in theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

The disclosure will be described in conjunction with the appendeddrawings, where like designations denote like elements, and:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a prior art mobile data network;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a mobile data network that includes first,second and third service mechanisms that all communicate via an overlaynetwork;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of one possible implementation for parts ofthe mobile data network shown in FIG. 2 to illustrate the overlaynetwork;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the MIOP@NodeB shown in FIG. 2, whichincludes a first service mechanism;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the MIOP@RNC shown in FIG. 2, whichincludes a second service mechanism;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the MIOP@Core shown in FIG. 2, whichincludes a third service mechanism;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a management mechanism coupled to theoverlay network that manages the functions of MIOP@NodeB, MIOP@RNC, andMIOP@Core;

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of a method performed by MIOP@NodeB shown inFIGS. 2 and 4;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing breakout criteria MIOP@RNC may use inmaking a decision of whether or not to break out data;

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram of a method for the MIOP@NodeB and MIOP@RNC todetermine when to break out data;

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of a method for the first service mechanism inMIOP@NodeB to selectively break out data when break out for a specifiedsubscriber session has been authorized;

FIG. 12 is a flow diagram of a method for determining when to run MIOPservices for a specified subscriber session;

FIGS. 13-15 are flow diagrams that each show communications between MIOPcomponents when MIOP services are running; and

FIG. 16 is a flow diagram of a method for managing and adjusting theMIOP components;

FIG. 17 is a block diagram of one specific implementation for MIOP@NodeBand MIOP@RNC;

FIGS. 18 and 19 show a flow diagram of a first method for the specificimplementation shown in FIG. 17;

FIG. 20 is a flow diagram of a second method for the specificimplementation shown in FIG. 17;

FIG. 21 is a flow diagram of a third method for the specificimplementation shown in FIG. 17;

FIG. 22 is a flow diagram of a method for the specific implementationshown in FIG. 17 to process a data request that results in a cache missat MIOP@NodeB;

FIG. 23 is a flow diagram of a method for the specific implementationshown in FIG. 17 to process a data request that results in a cache hitat MIOP@NodeB;

FIG. 24 is a block diagram of one specific hardware architecture forMIOP@NodeB;

FIG. 25 is a block diagram of the system controller shown in FIG. 24;

FIG. 26 is a block diagram of the service processor shown in FIG. 24;

FIG. 27 is a block diagram of the security subsystem shown in FIG. 24;

FIG. 28 is a block diagram of the telco breakout system shown in FIG.24;

FIG. 29 is a block diagram of the edge application mechanism 2530 shownin FIG. 25 that performs multiple services at the edge of a mobile datanetwork based on data broken-out at the edge of the mobile data network;

FIG. 30 is a block diagram of the appliance mechanism 2510 shown in FIG.25 that provides interfaces for communicating with MIOP@NodeB;

FIG. 31 is a flow diagram of a method for the appliance mechanism;

FIG. 32 is a block diagram of one specific implementation for theconfiguration management 3022 shown in FIG. 30;

FIG. 33 is a block diagram of one specific implementation for theperformance management 3024 shown in FIG. 30;

FIG. 34 is a block diagram of one specific implementation for thefault/diagnostic management 3026 shown in FIG. 30;

FIG. 35 is a block diagram of one specific implementation for thesecurity management 3028 shown in FIG. 30;

FIG. 36 is a block diagram of one specific implementation for thenetwork management 3030 shown in FIG. 30;

FIG. 37 is a block diagram of one specific implementation for thebreakout management 3032 shown in FIG. 30;

FIG. 38 is a block diagram of one specific implementation for theappliance platform management 3034 shown in FIG. 30;

FIG. 39 is a block diagram of one specific implementation for the edgeapplication management 3036 shown in FIG. 30;

FIG. 40 is a block diagram of one specific implementation for the alarmmanagement 3038 shown in FIG. 30;

FIG. 41 is a block diagram of one specific implementation for the filetransfer management 3040 shown in FIG. 30;

FIG. 42 is a block diagram of one specific implementation for theoverload management 3042 shown in FIG. 30;

FIG. 43 is a table showing which commands are defined for the applianceinterfaces;

FIG. 44 is a block diagram of the MIOP@NodeB appliance;

FIG. 45 is a block diagram of the MIOP@NodeB appliance similar to theview in FIG. 24 showing an overload manager and multiple overloadagents;

FIG. 46 is a block diagram showing one possible implementation for theoverload manager shown in FIG. 45;

FIG. 47 is a block diagram showing one possible implementation for theoverload conditions and overload thresholds shown in FIG. 46;

FIG. 48 is a block diagram showing one possible implementation for theoverload status and status levels shown in FIG. 46;

FIG. 49 is a block diagram showing one possible implementation for theoverload actions and overload action levels shown in FIG. 46;

FIG. 50 is a block diagram showing one possible implementation for theoverload agents shown in FIG. 45;

FIG. 51 is a block diagram showing sample low impact actions;

FIG. 52 is a block diagram showing sample high impact actions; and

FIG. 53 is a flow diagram of a method for monitoring and handlingoverload in a MIOP@NodeB appliance.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The claims and disclosure herein provide mechanisms and methods formonitoring and handling overload conditions in an appliance thatperforms mobile network services at the edge of a mobile data networkwithin the existing infrastructure of the mobile data network.

Referring to FIG. 1, a prior art mobile data network 100 is shown.Mobile data network 100 is representative of known 3G networks. Themobile data network 100 preferably includes a radio access network(RAN), a core network, and an external network, as shown in FIG. 1. Theradio access network includes the tower 120, basestation 122 with itscorresponding NodeB 130, and a radio interface on a radio networkcontroller (RNC) 140. The core network includes a network interface onthe radio network controller 140, the serving node 150, gateway node 160and operator service network 170 (as part of the mobile data network).The external network includes any suitable network. One suitable examplefor an external network is the internet 180, as shown in the specificexample in FIG. 1.

In mobile data network 100, user equipment 110 communicates via radiowaves to a tower 120. User equipment 110 may include any device capableof connecting to a mobile data network, including a mobile phone, atablet computer, a mobile access card coupled to a laptop computer, etc.The tower 120 communicates via network connection to a basestation 122.Each basestation 122 includes a NodeB 130, which communicates with thetower 120 and the radio network controller 140. Note there is a fan-outthat is not represented in FIG. 1. Typically there are tens of thousandsof towers 120. Each tower 120 typically has a corresponding base station122 with a NodeB 130 that communicates with the tower. However, networkcommunications with the tens of thousands of base stations 130 areperformed by hundreds of radio network controllers 140. Thus, each radionetwork controller 140 can service many NodeBs 130 in basestations 122.There may also be other items in the network between the basestation 130and the radio network controller 140 that are not shown in FIG. 1, suchas concentrators (points of concentration) or RAN aggregators thatsupport communications with many basestations.

The radio network controller 140 communicates with the serving node 150.In a typical 3G network, the serving node 150 is an SGSN, which is shortfor Service GPRS Support Node, where GPRS stands for general packetradio service. The serving node 150 mediates access to network resourceson behalf of mobile subscribers and implements the packet schedulingpolicy between different classes of quality of service. It is alsoresponsible for establishing the Packet Data Protocol (PDP) context withthe gateway node 160 for a given subscriber session. The serving node150 is responsible for the delivery of data packets from and to thebasestations within its geographical service area. The tasks of theserving node 150 include packet routing and transfer, mobilitymanagement (attach/detach and location management), logical linkmanagement, and authentication and charging functions. The serving node150 stores location information and user profiles of all subscribersregistered with the serving node 150. Functions the serving node 150typically performs include GPRS tunneling protocol (GTP) tunneling ofpackets, performing mobility management as user equipment moves from onebasestation to the next, and billing user data.

In a typical 3G network, the gateway node 160 is a GGSN, which is shortfor gateway GPRS support node. The gateway node 160 is responsible forthe interworking between the core network and external networks. Fromthe viewpoint of the external networks 180, gateway node 160 is a routerto a sub-network, because the gateway node 160 “hides” the core networkinfrastructure from the external network. When the gateway node 160receives data from an external network (such as internet 180) addressedto a specific subscriber, it forwards the data to the serving node 150serving the subscriber. For inactive subscribers paging is initiated.The gateway node 160 also handles routing packets originated from theuser equipment 110 to the appropriate external network. As anchor pointthe gateway node 160 supports the mobility of the user equipment 110. Inessence, the gateway node 160 maintains routing necessary to tunnel thenetwork packets to the serving node 150 that services a particular userequipment 110.

The gateway node 160 converts the packets coming from the serving node150 into the appropriate packet data protocol (PDP) format (e.g., IP orX.25) and sends them out on the corresponding external network. In theother direction, PDP addresses of incoming data packets from theexternal network 180 are converted to the address of the subscriber'suser equipment 110. The readdressed packets are sent to the responsibleserving node 150. For this purpose, the gateway node 160 stores thecurrent serving node address of the subscriber and his or her profile.The gateway node 160 is responsible for IP address assignment and is thedefault router for the subscriber's user equipment 110. The gateway node160 also performs authentication, charging and subscriber policyfunctions. One example of a subscriber policy function is “fair use”bandwidth limiting and blocking of particular traffic types such as peerto peer traffic. Another example of a subscriber policy function isdegradation to a 2G service level for a prepaid subscriber when theprepaid balance is zero.

A next hop router located in the operator service network (OSN) 170receives messages from the gateway node 160, and routes the trafficeither to the operator service network 170 or via an internet serviceprovider (ISP) towards the internet 180. The operator service network170 typically includes business logic that determines how the subscribercan use the mobile data network 100. The business logic that providesservices to subscribers may be referred to as a “walled garden”, whichrefers to a closed or exclusive set of services provided forsubscribers, including a carrier's control over applications, contentand media on user equipment.

Devices using mobile data networks often need to access an externalnetwork, such as the internet 180. As shown in FIG. 1, when a subscriberenters a request for data from the internet, that request is passed fromthe user equipment 110 to tower 120, to NodeB 130 in basestation 122, toradio network controller 140, to serving node 150, to gateway node 160,to operator service network 170, and to internet 180. When the requesteddata is delivered, the data traverses the entire network from theinternet 180 to the user equipment 110. The capabilities of known mobiledata networks 100 are taxed by the ever-increasing volume of data beingexchanged between user equipment 110 and the internet 180 because alldata between the two have to traverse the entire network.

Some efforts have been made to offload internet traffic to reduce thebackhaul on the mobile data network. For example, some mobile datanetworks include a node called a HomeNodeB that is part of the radioaccess network. Many homes have access to high-speed Internet, such asDirect Subscriber Line (DSL), cable television, wireless, etc. Forexample, in a home with a DSL connection, the HomeNodeB takes advantageof the DSL connection by routing Internet traffic to and from the userequipment directly to the DSL connection, instead of routing theInternet traffic through the mobile data network. While this may be aneffective way to offload Internet traffic to reduce backhaul, theHomeNodeB architecture makes it difficult to provide many mobile networkservices such as lawful interception, mobility, and chargingconsistently with the 3G or 4G mobile data network.

Referring to FIG. 2, a mobile data network 200 includes mechanisms thatprovide various services for the mobile data network in a way that istransparent to most of the existing equipment in the mobile datanetwork. FIG. 2 shows user equipment 110, tower 120, NodeB 130, radionetwork controller 140, serving node 150, gateway node 160, operatorservice node 170, and internet 180, the same as shown in FIG. 1. Theadditions to the mobile data network 200 when compared with the priorart mobile data network 100 in FIG. 1 include the addition of threecomponents that may provide mobile network services in the mobile datanetwork, along with a network management mechanism to manage the threecomponents. The mobile network services are performed by what is calledherein a Mobile Internet Optimization Platform (MIOP), and the mobilenetwork services performed by the Mobile Internet Optimization Platformare referred to herein as MIOP services. The three MIOP components thatprovide these mobile network services are shown in FIG. 2 as MIOP@NodeB210, MIOP@RNC 220 and MIOP@Core 230. A network management system shownas MIOP@NMS 240 manages the overall solution by: 1) managing thefunction of the three MIOP components 210, 220 and 230; 2) determiningwhich MIOP@NodeBs in the system aggregate to which MIOP@RNCs via theoverlay network for performance, fault and configuration management; and3) monitoring performance of the MIOP@NodeBs to dynamically change andconfigure the mobile network services. The MIOP@NodeB 210, MIOP@RNC 220,MIOP@Core 230, MIOP@NMS 240, and the overlay network 250, and any subsetof these, and are referred to herein as MIOP components.

The mobile network services provided by MIOP@NodeB 210, MIOP@RNC 220,and MIOP@Core 230 include any suitable services on the mobile datanetwork, such as data optimizations, RAN-aware services,subscriber-aware services, edge-based application serving, edge-basedanalytics, etc. All mobile network services performed by all ofMIOP@NodeB 210, MIOP@RNC 220, and MIOP@Core 230 are included in the termMIOP services as used herein. In addition to the services being offer inthe MIOP components MIOP@NodeB 210, MIOP@RNC 220, and MIOP@Core 230, thevarious MIOP services could also be provided in a cloud based manner.

MIOP@NodeB 210 includes a first service mechanism and is referred to asthe “edge” based portion of the MIOP solution. MIOP@NodeB 210 resides inthe radio access network and has the ability to intercept all traffic toand from the NodeB 130. MIOP@NodeB 210 preferably resides in the basestation 222 shown by the dotted box in FIG. 2. Thus, all data to andfrom the NodeB 130 to and from the radio network controller 140 isrouted through MIOP@NodeB 210. MIOP@NodeB performs what is referred toherein as breakout of data on the intercepted data stream. MIOP@NodeBmonitors the signaling traffic between NodeB and RNC and on connectionsetup intercepts in particular the setup of the transport layer(allocation of the UDP Port, IP address or AAL2 channel). For registeredsessions the breakout mechanism 410 will be configured in a way that alltraffic belonging to this UDP Port, IP address to AAL2 channel will beforwarded to an data offload function. MIOP@NodeB 210 thus performsbreakout of data by defining a previously-existing path in the radioaccess network for non-broken out data, by defining a new second datapath that did not previously exist in the radio access network forbroken out data, identifying data received from a corresponding NodeB asdata to be broken out, sending the data to be broken out on the seconddata path, and forwarding other data that is not broken out on the firstdata path. The signaling received by MIOP@NodeB 210 from NodeB 130 isforwarded to RNC 140 on the existing network connection to RNC 140, eventhough the data traffic is broken out. Thus, RNC 140 sees the signalingtraffic and knows the subscriber session is active, but does not see theuser data that is broken out by MIOP@NodeB 210. MIOP@NodeB thus performstwo distinct functions depending on the monitored data packets: 1)forward the data packets to RNC 140 for signaling traffic and user datathat is not broken out (including voice calls); and 2) re-route the datapackets for user data that is broken out.

Once MIOP@NodeB 210 breaks out user data it can perform any suitableservice based on the traffic type of the broken out data. Because theservices performed by MIOP@NodeB 210 are performed in the radio accessnetwork (e.g., at the basestation 222), the MIOP@NodeB 210 can servicethe user equipment 110 much more quickly than can the radio networkcontroller 140. In addition, by having a MIOP@NodeB 210 that isdedicated to a particular NodeB 130, one MIOP@NodeB only needs toservice those subscribers that are currently connected via a singleNodeB. The radio network controller, in contrast, which typicallyservices dozens or even hundreds of basestations, must service all thesubscribers accessing all basestations it controls from a remotelocation. As a result, MIOP@NodeB is in a much better position toprovide services that will improve the quality of service and experiencefor subscribers than is the radio network controller.

Breaking out data in the radio access network by MIOP@NodeB 210 allowsfor many different types of services to be performed in the radio accessnetwork. These services may include optimizations that are similar tooptimizations provided by known industry solutions between radio networkcontrollers and the serving node. However, moving these optimizations tothe edge of the mobile data network will not only greatly improve thequality of service for subscribers, but will also provide a foundationfor applying new types of services at the edge of the mobile datanetwork, such as terminating machine-to-machine (MTM) traffic at theedge (e.g., in the basestation), hosting applications at the edge, andperforming analytics at the edge.

MIOP@RNC 220 includes a second service mechanism in mobile data network200. MIOP@RNC 220 monitors all communication between the radio networkcontroller 140 and serving node 150. The monitored communications areall communications to and from the radio network controller and the restof the core network. MIOP@RNC 220 may provide one or more services forthe mobile data network. MIOP@RNC 220 preferably makes the decision ofwhether or not to allow breakout of data. If MIOP@RNC 220 decides tobreakout data for a given subscriber session, it may send a message toMIOP@NodeB 210 authorizing breakout by MIOP@NodeB 210, or may decide tobreakout the data at MIOP@RNC 220, depending on the configured breakoutdecision criteria and selected radio channel. Because messages to andfrom the core network establishing the PDP context for a givensubscriber session are monitored by MIOP@RNC 220, the decision ofwhether or not to breakout data resides in the MIOP@RNC 220.

MIOP@Core 230 includes a third service mechanism in the mobile datanetwork 200. MIOP@Core 230 may include all the same services as MIOP@RNC220, or any suitable subset of those services. If the decision is madenot to provide services at MIOP@NodeB 210 or MIOP@RNC 220, these sameservices plus more sophisticated services can be performed at MIOP@Core230. Thus, mobile data network 200 provides flexibility by allowing adecision to be made of where to perform which services. BecauseMIOP@NodeB 210, MIOP@RNC 220 and MIOP@Core 230 preferably include someof the same services, the services between components may interact(e.g., MIOP@NodeB and MIOP@Core may interact to optimize TCP trafficbetween them), or the services may be distributed across the mobile datanetwork (e.g., MIOP@NodeB performs breakout and provides services forhigh-speed traffic, MIOP@RNC performs breakout and provides services forlow-speed traffic, and MIOP@Core provides services for non-broken outtraffic). The MIOP system architecture thus provides a very powerful andflexible solution, allowing dynamic configuring and reconfiguring on thefly of which services are performed by the MIOP components and where. Inaddition, these services may be implemented taking advantage of existinginfrastructure in a mobile data network.

MIOP@NMS 240 is a network management system that monitors and controlsthe functions of MIOP@NodeB 210, MIOP@RNC 220, and MIOP@Core 230.MIOP@NMS 240 preferably includes MIOP internal real-time or nearreal-time performance data monitoring to determine if historical oradditional regional dynamic changes are needed to improve services onthe mobile data network 200. MIOP@NMS 240 provides a user interface thatallows a system administrator to operate and to configure how the MIOPcomponents 210, 220 and 230 function.

The overlay network 250 allows MIOP@NodeB 210, MIOP@RNC 220, MIOP@Core230, and MIOP@NMS 240 to communicate with each other. The overlaynetwork 250 is preferably a virtual private network primarily on anexisting physical network in the mobile data network. Thus, whileoverlay network 250 is shown in FIG. 2 separate from other physicalnetwork connections, this representation in FIG. 2 is a logicalrepresentation.

FIG. 3 shows one suitable implementation of a physical network and theoverlay network in a sample mobile data system. The existing physicalnetwork in the mobile data network before the addition of the MIOP@NodeB210, MIOP@RNC 220, and MIOP@Core 230 is shown by the solid lines witharrows. This specific example in FIG. 3 includes many NodeBs, shown inFIG. 1 as 130A, 130B, 130C, . . . , 130N. Some of the NodeBs have acorresponding MIOP@NodeB. FIG. 3 illustrates that MIOP@NodeBs (such as210A and 210N) can be placed in a basestation with its correspondingNodeB, or can be placed upstream in the network after a point ofconcentration (such as 210A after POC3 310). FIG. 3 also illustratesthat a single MIOP@NodeB such as MIOP@NodeB1 210A can service twodifferent NodeBs, such as NodeB1 130A and NodeB2 130B. Part of theoverlay network is shown by the dotted lines between MIOP@NodeB1 210Aand second point of concentration POC2 320, between MIOP@NodeB3 210C andPOC3 315, between MIOP@NodeBN 210N and POC3 315, and between POC3 315and POC2 320. Note the overlay network in the radio access networkportion is a virtual private network that is implemented on the existingphysical network connections. The overlay network allows the MIOP@NodeBs210A, 210C and 210N to communicate with each other directly, which makessome services possible in the mobile data network 200 that werepreviously impossible. FIG. 3 shows MIOP@NodeB1 210A connected to asecond point of concentration POC2 320. The broken arrows coming in fromabove at POC2 320 represent connections to other NodeBs, and could alsoinclude connections to other MIOP@NodeBs. Similarly, POC2 320 isconnected to a third point of concentration POC1 330, with possiblyother NodeBs or MIOP@NodeBs connected to POC1. The RNC 140 is shownconnected to POC1 330, and to a first router RT1 340 in the corenetwork. The router RT1 340 is also connected to the SGSN 150. While notshown in FIG. 3 for the sake of simplicity, it is understood that SGSNin FIG. 3 is also connected to the upstream core components shown inFIG. 2, including GGSN 160, OSN 170 and internet 180.

As shown in FIG. 3, the overlay network from the NodeBs to POC1 330 is avirtual private network implemented on existing physical networkconnections. However, the overlay network requires a second router RT2350, which is connected via a physical network connection 360 to POC1330, and is connected via physical network connection 370 to MIOP@RNC220. This second router RT2 350 may be a separate router, or may be arouter implemented within MIOP@RNC 220. MIOP@RNC 220 is also connectedto router RT1 340 via a physical network connection 380, and is alsoconnected to MIOP@Core 230. Physical connection 380 in FIG. 3 is shownin a line with short dots because it is not part of the pre-existingphysical network before adding the MIOP components (arrows with solidlines) and is not part of the overlay network (arrows with long dots).Note the connection from MIOP@RNC 220 to MIOP@Core 230 is via existingphysical networks in the core network.

We can see from the configuration of the physical network and overlaynetwork in FIG. 3 that minimal changes are needed to the existing mobiledata network to install the MIOP components. The most that must be addedis one new router 350 and three new physical network connections 360,370 and 380. Once the new router 350 and new physical networkconnections 360, 370 and 380 are installed, the router 350 and MIOPcomponents are appropriately configured, and the existing equipment inthe mobile data network is configured to support the overlay network,the operation of the MIOP components is completely transparent toexisting network equipment.

As can be seen in FIG. 3, data on the overlay network is defined onexisting physical networks from the NodeBs to POC1. From POC1 theoverlay network is on connection 360 to RT2 350, and on connection 370to MIOP@RNC 220. Thus, when MIOP@NodeB 210 in FIG. 2 needs to send amessage to MIOP@RNC 220, the message is sent by sending packets via avirtual private network on the physical network connections to POC1,then to RT2 350, then to MIOP@RNC 220. Virtual private networks arewell-known in the art, so they are not discussed in more detail here.

Referring to FIG. 4, MIOP@NodeB 210 preferably includes a breakoutmechanism 410, an edge service mechanism 430, and an overlay networkmechanism 440. The breakout mechanism 410 determines breakoutpreconditions 420 that, when satisfied, allow breakout to occur at thisedge location. Breakout mechanism 410 in MIOP@NodeB 210 communicateswith the breakout mechanism 510 in MIOP@RNC 220 shown in FIG. 5 to reacha breakout decision. The breakout mechanism 410, after receiving amessage from MIOP@RNC 220 authorizing breakout on connection setupintercepts in particular the setup of the transport layer (allocation ofthe UDP Port, IP address or AAL2 channel). For authorized sessions thebreakout mechanism 410 will be configured in a way that all trafficbelonging to this UDP Port, IP address to AAL2 channel will be forwardedto a data offload function. For traffic that should not be broken out,the breakout mechanism 410 sends the data on the original data path inthe radio access network. In essence, MIOP@NodeB 210 intercepts allcommunications to and from the basestation 130, and can perform services“at the edge”, meaning at the edge of the radio access network that isclose to the user equipment 110. By performing services at the edge, theservices to subscribers may be increased or optimizes without requiringhardware changes to existing equipment in the mobile data network.

The breakout mechanism 410 preferably includes breakout preconditions420 that specify one or more criterion that must be satisfied beforebreakout of data is allowed. One suitable example of breakoutpreconditions is the speed of the channel. In one possibleimplementation, only high-speed channels will be broken out atMIOP@NodeB 210. Thus, breakout preconditions 420 could specify thatsubscribers on high-speed channels may be broken out, while subscriberson low-speed channels are not broken out at MIOP@NodeB 210. When thebreakout preconditions 420 are satisfied, the MIOP@NodeB 210 registersthe subscriber session with MIOP@RNC 220. This is shown in method 800 inFIG. 8. MIOP@NodeB 210 intercepts and monitors network traffic to andfrom NodeB (basestation) (step 810). When the traffic does not satisfythe breakout preconditions (step 820=NO), method 800 returns to step810. When the traffic satisfies the breakout conditions (step 820=YES),MIOP@NodeB 210 sends a message to MIOP@RNC 220 on the overlay network250 to register the subscriber session for breakout (step 830). With thesubscriber session registered with MIOP@RNC 220, the MIOP@RNC 220 willdetermine whether or not to breakout data for the subscriber session,and where the breakout is done, as explained in more detail below.

Referring back to FIG. 4, MIOP@NodeB 210 also includes an edge servicemechanism 430. The edge service mechanism 430 provides one or moreservices for the mobile data network 200. The edge service mechanism 430may include any suitable service for the mobile data network includingwithout limitation caching of data, data or video compressiontechniques, push-based services, charging, application serving,analytics, security, data filtering, new revenue-producing services,etc. The edge service mechanism is the first of three service mechanismsin the MIOP components. While the breakout mechanism 410 and edgeservice mechanism 430 are shown as separate entities in FIG. 4, thefirst service mechanism could include both breakout mechanism 410 andedge service mechanism 430.

MIOP@NodeB 210 also includes an overlay network mechanism 440. Theoverlay network mechanism 440 provides a connection to the overlaynetwork 250 in FIG. 2, thereby allowing MIOP@NodeB 210 to communicatewith MIOP@RNC 220, MIOP@Core 230, and MIOP@NMS 240. As stated above, theoverlay network 250 is preferably a virtual private network primarily onan existing physical network in the mobile data network 200.

Referring to FIG. 5, MIOP@RNC 220 preferably includes a breakoutmechanism 510, an RNC service mechanism 540, an overlay networkmechanism 550, and business intelligence 560. Breakout mechanism 510includes breakout criteria 520 that specifies one or more criterionthat, when satisfied, allows breakout of data. Subscriber registrationmechanism 530 receives messages from MIOP@NodeB 210, and registerssubscriber sessions for which the breakout preconditions 420 inMIOP@NodeB 210 are satisfied. When the breakout mechanism 510 determinesthe breakout criteria 520 is satisfied, the breakout mechanism 510 willthen determine where the breakout should occur. When the breakout canoccur at MIOP@NodeB 210, the MIOP@RNC 220 sends a message to MIOP@NodeB210 on the overlay network 250 authorizing breakout at MIOP@NodeB 210.When the breakout should occur at MIOP@RNC 220, the breakout mechanism510 in MIOP@RNC 220 performs the breakout as well for the trafficremaining then). This is shown in more detail in method 1000 in FIG. 10.MIOP@RNC monitors network traffic between the radio network controller140 and the serving node 150 (step 1010). When the traffic does notsatisfy the breakout criteria (step 1020=NO), method 1000 loops back tostep 1010. When the network traffic satisfies the breakout criteria(step 1020=YES), the breakout mechanism 510 determines whether thesubscriber session is registered for breakout (step 1030). A subscribersession is registered for breakout when the MIOP@NodeB 210 determinedthe traffic satisfied the breakout preconditions and registered thesubscriber session for breakout, as shown in FIG. 8. Returning to FIG.10, when the subscriber is registered for breakout (step 1030=YES),MIOP@RNC 220 sends a message via the overlay network 250 to MIOP@NodeB210 authorizing breakout of traffic for the subscriber session (step1040). MIOP@NodeB 210 may then breakout traffic for the subscribersession (step 1050). When the subscriber is not registered for breakout(step 1030=NO), method 1000 checks to see if MIOP@RNC is going to dobreakout (step 1060). If not (step 1060=NO), method 1000 is done. WhenMIOP@RNC is going to do breakout (step 1060=YES), the traffic is thenbroken out at MIOP@RNC (step 1070).

In one specific example, the breakout preconditions specify onlyhigh-speed channels are broken out at MIOP@NodeB 210, and when thebreakout preconditions are satisfied, the subscriber session isregistered for breakout, as shown in FIG. 8. FIG. 10 illustrates thateven when the breakout preconditions are not satisfied, breakout canstill be performed at MIOP@RNC 220. Thus, even if the subscriber sessionis on a low-speed channel, if all the other breakout criteria aresatisfied, breakout of the low-speed channel may be performed atMIOP@RNC 220. The mobile data network 200 thus provides greatflexibility in determining when to do breakout and where.

Referring back to FIG. 5, the RNC service mechanism 540 provides one ormore services for the mobile data network. RNC service mechanism 540 isthe second of three service mechanisms in the MIOP components. The RNCservice mechanism 540 may include any suitable service for the mobiledata network, including without limitation caching of data, data orvideo compression techniques, push-based services, charging, applicationserving, analytics, security, data filtering, new revenue-producingservices, etc.

While the breakout mechanism 510 and RNC service mechanism 540 are shownas separate entities in FIG. 5, the second service mechanism couldinclude both breakout mechanism 510 and RNC service mechanism 540. Theoverlay network mechanism 550 is similar to the overlay networkmechanism 440 in FIG. 4, providing a logical network connection to theother MIOP components on the overlay network 250 in FIG. 2. MIOP@RNC 220also includes business intelligence 560, which includes:

-   -   1) historical subscriber information received from the mobile        data network over time, such as mobility and location, volumes,        traffic types, equipment used, etc.    -   2) network awareness, including NodeB load states, service area        code, channel type, number of times channel type switching        occurred for a PDP session, serving cell ID, how many cells and        their IDs are in the active set, PDP context type, PDP sessions        per subscriber, session duration, data consumption, list of        Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) browsed for user        classification, top URL browsed, first time or repeat user,        entry point/referral URLs for a given site, session tracking,        etc.    -   3) association of flow control procedures between NodeB and RNC        to subscribers.

The business intelligence 560 may be instrumented by the RNC servicemechanism 540 to determine when and what types of MIOP services toperform for a given subscriber. For example, services for a subscriberon a mobile phone may differ when compared to services for a subscriberusing a laptop computer to access the mobile data network. In anotherexample, voice over internet protocol (VOIP) session could have the databroken out.

Referring to FIG. 6, the MIOP@Core 230 includes a core service mechanism610 and an overlay network mechanism 620. Core service mechanism 610provides one or more services for the mobile data network. Core servicemechanism 610 is the third of three service mechanisms in the MIOPcomponents. The core service mechanism 610 may include any suitableservice for the mobile data network, including without limitationcaching of data, data or video compression techniques, push-basedservices, charging, application serving, analytics, security, datafiltering, new revenue-producing services, etc. In one specificimplementation, the MIOP@Core 230 is an optional component, because allneeded services could be performed at MIOP@NodeB 210 and MIOP@RNC 220.In an alternative implementation, MIOP@Core 230 performs some services,while MIOP@RNC performs others or none. The overlay network mechanism620 is similar to the overlay network mechanisms 440 in FIGS. 4 and 550in FIG. 5, providing a logical network connection to the other MIOPcomponents on the overlay network 250 in FIG. 2.

Referring to FIG. 7, the MIOP@NMS 240 is a network management systemthat monitors and manages performance of the mobile data network 200,and controls the function of MIOP@NodeB 210, MIOP@RNC 220, and MIOP@Core230. MIOP@NMS 240 preferably includes a network monitoring mechanism710, a performance management mechanism 720, a security managementmechanism 730, and a configuration management mechanism 740. The networkmonitoring mechanism 710 monitors network conditions, such as alarms, inthe mobile data network 200. The performance management mechanism 720can enable, disable or refine certain services by supporting theexecution of services in real-time or near real-time, such as servicesthat gather information to assess customer satisfaction. The securitymanagement mechanism 730 manages security issues in the mobile datanetwork, such as intrusion detection or additional data privacy. Theconfiguration management mechanism 740 controls and manages theconfiguration of MIOP@NodeB 210, MIOP@RNC 220, and MIOP@Core 230 in away that allows them to dynamically adapt to any suitable criteria,including data received from the network monitoring mechanism, time ofday, information received from business intelligence 560, etc.

FIG. 9 shows sample breakout criteria 520 shown in FIG. 5 and used instep 1020 in FIG. 10. Suitable breakout criteria 520 includes accesspoint name, user equipment identifier, user equipment type, quality ofservice, subscriber ID, mobile country code, and mobile network code.For example, breakout criteria 520 could specify to perform MIOPservices for the operator's subscribers, and not to perform MIOPservices for roamers. In another example, the breakout criteria 520could specify to break out only video requests. A static breakoutdecision will be performed during PDP Context Activation. Based on IPflows (e.g. shallow packet inspection of the IP 5 tuple) only specificIP flows maybe identified and broken out dynamically within that PDPsubscriber session (e.g., VOIP traffic), as discussed in more detailbelow with respect to FIG. 11. Breakout criteria 520 expressly extendsto any suitable criteria for making the breakout decision.

Referring again to FIG. 10, when the traffic satisfies the breakoutcriteria (step 1020=YES), and the subscriber session is registered forbreakout (step 1030=YES), MIOP@RNC sends a message to MIOP@NodeBauthorizing breakout of traffic for this subscriber session (step 1040).In response, MIOP@NodeB begins decrypting the bearer, examining thesignaling and user IP traffic tunneled through it and may breakout thetraffic for this subscriber session (step 1050). Note, however,MIOP@NodeB may still decide not to breakout all traffic based on othercriteria, such as type of IP request the destination of the traffic orthe ISO Layer 7 Application of the decrypted user traffic. Determinationof the Application may be performed simply by inspection of the IP5-tuple or optionally via inspection at layer 7 using Deep PacketInspection (DPI) techniques. This is shown in the specific example inFIG. 11. Method 1050 in FIG. 10 is one suitable implementation of step1050 in FIG. 10. MIOP@NodeB monitors IP requests from the subscriber(step 1110). When the user traffic IP request matches a specified typecriteria (step 1120=YES), the IP session is broken out for thesubscriber (step 1130). When the IP request does not match a specifiedcriteria type (step 1120=NO), no breakout is performed. For example,let's assume that IP requests to access video over the RTP layer 7Application Protocol are broken out so the video data may be cached inMIOP@NodeB 210, but other requests, such as Google searches, are not.The MIOP@NodeB monitors the IP requests from the subscriber (step 1110),and when the subscriber session IP request carries RTP traffic is for avideo file (step 1120=YES), the IP session is broken out (step 1130).Otherwise, the IP session is not broken out at MIOP@NodeB. This is onesimple example to illustrate additional flexibility and intelligencewithin MIOP@NodeB that may determine whether or not to perform breakoutfor a given subscriber session at the MIOP@NodeB after being authorizedby MIOP@RNC to perform breakout for that subscriber session. Anysuitable criteria could be used to determine what to breakout and whenat MIOP@NodeB once MIOP@NodeB has been authorized for breakout in step1040 in FIG. 10.

Referring to FIG. 12, method 1200 shows a method for determining when torun MIOP services. The Packet Data Protocol (PDP) activation context fora subscriber is monitored (step 1210). A PDP activation context isestablished when user equipment 110 connects to tower 120 and thesubscriber runs an application that triggers the PDP activationprocedure. The core network will determine the subscriber, and perhapscorresponding user equipment. When MIOP services are allowed (step1220=YES), services for this subscriber session are run (step 1230) uponthe arrival of data from the subscriber. When MIOP services are notallowed (step 1220=NO), no MIOP services are run. In one simple example,MIOP services in the mobile data network are allowed for authorizedsubscribers, but are not allowed for subscribers from a differentwireless company that are roaming.

MIOP services may require communicating between MIOP components on theoverlay network. Referring to FIG. 13, a method 1300 showscommunications by MIOP@NodeB when MIOP services are running (step 1310).When the edge service mechanism requires communication with MIOP@RNC(step 1320=YES), MIOP@NodeB exchanges messages with MIOP@RNC over theoverlay network (step 1330). When the edge service mechanism requirescommunication with MIOP@Core (step 1340=YES), MIOP@NodeB exchangesmessages with MIOP@Core over the overlay network (step 1350). Theoverlay network thus allows the various MIOP components to communicatewith each other when MIOP services are running.

FIG. 14 shows a method 1400 that shows communications by MIOP@RNC whenMIOP services are running (step 1410). When the RNC service mechanismrequires communication with MIOP@NodeB (step 1420=YES), MIOP@RNCexchanges messages with MIOP@NodeB over the overlay network (step 1430).When the RNC service mechanism requires communication with MIOP@Core(step 1440=YES), MIOP@RNC exchanges messages with MIOP@Core over theoverlay network (step 1450).

FIG. 15 shows a method 1500 that shows communications by MIOP@Core whenMIOP services are running (step 1510). When the core service mechanismrequires communication with MIOP@NodeB (step 1520=YES), MIOP@Coreexchanges messages with MIOP@NodeB over the overlay network (step 1530)relayed via MIOP@RNC. When the core service mechanism requirescommunication with MIOP@RNC (step 1540=YES), MIOP@Core exchangesmessages with MIOP@RNC over the overlay network (step 1550).

FIG. 16 shows a method 1600 that is preferably performed by MIOP@NMS 240in FIGS. 2 and 7. The performance and efficiency of the MIOP componentsthat perform MIOP services are monitored (step 1610). The MIOPcomponents that perform MIOP services may include MIOP@NodeB 210,MIOP@RNC 220, and MIOP@Core 230, assuming all of these components arepresent in the mobile data network 200. When performance may be improved(step 1620=YES), the performance of the MIOP components is adjusted (ifimplemented and applicable) by sending one or more network messages viathe overlay network (step 1630). Note also a human operator could alsomanually reconfigure the MIOP components to be more efficient.

Referring to FIG. 17, implementations for MIOP@NodeB 210 and MIOP@RNC220 are shown by way of example. Other implementations are possiblewithin the scope of the disclosure and claims herein. User equipment 110is connected to NodeB 130. Note the antenna 120 shown in FIG. 2 is notshown in FIG. 17, but is understood to be present to enable thecommunication between user equipment 110 and NodeB 130. MIOP@NodeB 210includes an edge cache mechanism 1730, which is one suitable example ofedge service mechanism 430 in FIG. 4. MIOP@NodeB 210 includes aninterface referred to herein as IuB Data Offload Gateway (IuB DOGW)1710. This gateway 1710 implements the breakout mechanism 410 accordingto one or more specified breakout preconditions 420 shown in FIG. 4. IuBDOGW 1710 includes a switching application 1740, an offload data handler1750, and an RNC channel handler 1760. The switching application 1740 isresponsible for monitoring data packets received from NodeB 130,forwards according to it configuration the broken out data packets tothe offload data handler, relays the non-broken out data packets andcontrol system flows to the RNC 140 via the original connections in theRAN. While switching application 1740 is shown as two separate boxes inFIG. 17, this is done to visually indicate the switching application1740 performs switching on two different interfaces, the networkinterface and overlay network interface, but the switching application1740 is preferably a single entity.

When a breakout decision is made and MIOP@RNC 220 sends a message toMIOP@NodeB 210 authorizing breakout (see step 1040 in FIG. 10), whenMIOP@NodeB decides to breakout specified user data, the specified userdata received by the switching application 1740 from NodeB 130 is brokenout, which means the switching application 1740 routes the specifieduser data to the offload data handler 1750 so the broken out data isrouted to the data path defined for breakout data. The offload datahandler 1750 may send the data to the edge cache mechanism 1730 forprocessing, which can route the data directly to MIOP@RNC 220 via theoverlay network, as shown by the path with arrows going from NodeB 130to MIOP@RNC 220.

User data that is not broken out and signaling traffic is routeddirectly back by the switching application 1740 to RNC. In this manner,non-broken out data and signaling traffic passes through the IuB DOGW1710 to RNC 140, while broken out data is routed by the IuB DOGW 1710 toa different destination. Note that edge cache mechanism 1730 may sendmessages to MIOP@RNC 220 as shown in FIG. 17, but the broken outmessages themselves are not sent to MIOP@RNC 220.

MIOP@RNC 220 includes an interface referred to herein as IuPS dataoffload gateway (IuPS DOGW) 1770. IuPS DOGW 1770 forwards all signalingand non-broken out data traffic from RNC 140 to SGSN 150 via the GTPtunnel. IuPS DOGW 1770 includes the breakout mechanism 510, breakoutcriteria 520 and subscriber registration mechanism 530 shown in FIG. 5and discussed above with reference to FIG. 5. IuPS DOGW 1770 mayexchange messages with IuB DOGW 1710 via the overlay network to performany needed service in MIOP@NodeB 210 or MIOP@RNC 220. For the specificimplementation shown in FIG. 17, while the IuPS DOGW 1770 in MIOP@RNC220 does not include an offload data handler, the IuPS DOGW 1770 couldinclude an offload data handler and switching application similar tothose shown in MIOP@NodeB 210 when MIOP@RNC 220 also needs to performbreakout of data.

The IuPS DOGW 1770 includes an RNC channel handler 1780. The RNC channelhandlers 1760 in MIOP@NodeB 210 and 1780 in MIOP@RNC 220 monitor datatraffic to and from RNC 140 related to a broken out subscriber sessionand provide a keep-alive channel maintenance mechanism.

Specific methods are shown in FIGS. 18-21 that illustrate how thespecific implementation in FIG. 17 could be used. FIGS. 18 and 19 show amethod 1800 for setting up breakout of data. The UE sends a connectionrequest to the RNC (step 1810). The RNC sets up a radio link via NodeB(step 1815). The RNC then sets up a network connection with NodeB (step1820). The UE and SGSN then communicate for the attach andauthentication procedure (step 1825). IuB DOGW detects the leadingmessage in the attach and authentication procedure, and registers thesubscriber session with IuPS DOGW when preconditions are fulfilled (e.g.UE is capable to carry high speed traffic) (step 1830). During theattach and authentication procedure, IuPS DOGW monitors the securitycontext sent from SGSN to RNC (step 1835). IuPS DOGW then sends keys toIuB DOGW (step 1840). These keys are needed to decipher (decrypt) theupcoming signaling and uplink user data and to cipher (encrypt) thedownlink user data. UE then requests PDP context activation to SGSN(step 1845). In response, SGSN sets up a network tunnel to RNC (step1850). IuPS DOGW monitors network tunnel setup from SGSN to RNC andmakes a decision breakout=YES (step 1855). IuPS DOGW sends a message toIuB DOGW indicating breakout=YES (step 1860). Continuing on FIG. 19,SGSN sends an RAB assignment request to UE (step 1865). IuPS DOGWdetects the RAB assignment request from SGSN to UE and replaces the SGSNtransport address with IuPS DOGW transport address (step 1870). IuPSDOGW sends a message to MIOP@Core indicating breakout=YES (step 1875).RNC communicates with NodeB and UE to (re) configure signaling and dataradio bearer (step 1880). RNC acknowledges to SGSN when RAB assignmentis complete (step 1885). SGSN accepts PDP context activation by sendinga message to UE (step 1890). UE and SGSN may then exchange data for thePDP context (step 1895).

Referring to FIG. 20, a method 2000 begins by establishing a PDP context(step 2010). Method 1800 in FIGS. 18 and 19 include the detailed stepsfor establishing a PDP context. When breakout=YES, RAB assignmentrequests from SGSN to RNC are monitored by IuPS DOGW (step 2020). IuPSDOGW modifies any RAB assignment requests from SGSN to RNC to replacethe SGSN transport address in the RAB assignment request with the IuPSDOGW transport address (step 2030) in case of matching breakout criteriaduring PDP context activation procedure. The switching application onIuB DOGW is configured upon the RAN transport layer setup to identifybased on IP addresses and ports the broken out traffic and forwards thistraffic to the Offload data handler 1765, and forwards non-broken outtraffic and control system data flows to the RNC (step 2040).

Referring to FIG. 21, a method 2100 begins when NodeB sends data towardsRNC (step 2110). The switching application in IuB DOGW redirects thebroken out traffic to the edge service mechanism (step 2120), such asedge cache mechanism 1730 in FIG. 17. The switching application alsoforwards non-broken out data and signaling data to the RNC (step 2130)via the original RAN connections. The RNC can still receive data fornon-broken out traffic from MIOP@NodeB when breakout=YES (step 2140).The RNC then sends non-broken out traffic from MIOP@NodeB from UE whenbreakout=YES to IuPS DOGW transport address specified in RAB assignmentrequest (step 2150).

A simple example is now provided for the specific implementation in FIG.17 to show how data can be cached and delivered by MIOP@NodeB 210.Referring to FIG. 22, method 2200 represents steps performed in theimplementation in FIG. 17 for a cache miss. UE sends a data request toNodeB (step 2210). NodeB sends the data request to IuB DOGW (step 2215).We assume the requested data meets the offload criteria at MIOP@NodeB(step 2220), which means MIOP@NodeB has been authorized to performbreakout and has determined this requested data should be broken out.IuB DOGW sends the data request to the edge cache mechanism (step 2225).We assume the data is not present in the edge cache mechanism, so due tothe cache miss, the edge cache mechanism sends the data request back toIuB DOGW (step 2230). IuB DOGW then forwards the data request toMIOP@RNC via the overlay network (step 2235). In the worst case thecontent is not cached on MIOP@RNC or MIOP@Core, MIOP@RNC routes the datarequest to via the overlay network to the MIOP@Core, which passes thedata request up the line to the internet, which delivers the requesteddata to MIOP@Core, which delivers the requested data via the overlaynetwork to MIOP@RNC (step 2240). IuPS DOGW then sends the requested datato IuB DOGW (step 2245). IuB DOGW then sends the requested data to theedge cache mechanism (step 2250). The edge cache mechanism caches therequested data (step 2255). The edge cache mechanism sends the requesteddata to IuB DOGW (step 2260). The offload data handler in IuB DOGW sendsthe requested data to NodeB (step 2265). NodeB then sends the requesteddata to UE (step 2270). At this point, method 2200 is done.

Method 2300 in FIG. 23 shows the steps performed for a cache hit in thespecific implementation in FIG. 17. The UE sends the data request toNodeB (step 2310). NodeB sends the data request to IuB DOGW (step 2320).The requested data meets the offload criteria at MIOP@NodeB (step 2330).IuB DOGW sends the data request to the edge cache mechanism (step 2340).Due to a cache hit, the edge cache mechanism sends the requested datafrom the cache to IuB DOGW (step 2350). The offload data handler in IuBDOGW sends the requested data to NodeB (step 2360). Node B then sendsthe requested data to UE (step 2370). Method 2300 shows a greatadvantage in caching data at MIOP@NodeB. With data cached at MIOP@NodeB,the data may be delivered to the user equipment without any backhaul onthe core network. The result is reduced network congestion in the corenetwork while improving quality of service to the subscriber.

The methods shown in FIGS. 18-23 provide detailed steps for the specificimplementation in FIG. 17. Other implementations may have detailed stepsthat are different than those shown in FIGS. 18-23. These are shown byway of example, and are not limiting of the disclosure and claimsherein.

The architecture of the MIOP system allows services to be layered ornested. For example, the MIOP system could determine to do breakout ofhigh-speed channels at MIOP@NodeB, and to do breakout of low-speedchannels at MIOP@RNC. In another example, MIOP@NodeB may have a cache,MIOP@RNC may also have a cache, and MIOP@Core may also have a cache. Ifthere is a cache miss at MIOP@NodeB, the cache in MIOP@RNC could bechecked, followed by checking the cache in MIOP@Core. Thus, decisionscan be dynamically made according to varying conditions of what data tocache and where.

To support the MIOP services that are possible with the mobile datanetwork 200 shown in FIG. 2, the preferred configuration of MIOP@NodeB210 is a combination of hardware and software. The preferredconfiguration of MIOP@RNC 220 is also a combination of hardware andsoftware. The preferred configuration of MIOP@Core 230 is software only,and can be run on any suitable hardware in the core network. Thepreferred configuration of MIOP@NMS 240 is software only, and can alsobe run on any suitable hardware in the core network.

In the most preferred implementation, the various functions ofMIOP@NodeB 210, MIOP@RNC 220, MIOP@Core 230, and MIOP@NMS 240 areperformed in a manner that is nearly transparent to existing equipmentin the mobile data network. Thus, the components in prior art mobiledata network 100 that are also shown in the mobile data network 200 inFIG. 2 have no knowledge of the existence of the various MIOPcomponents, with the exception of existing routers that may need to beupdated with routing entries corresponding to the MIOP components. TheMIOP services are provided by the MIOP components in a way that requiresno changes to hardware and only minor changes to software (i.e., newrouter entries) in any existing equipment in the mobile data network,thereby making the operation of the MIOP components transparent to theexisting equipment once the MIOP components are installed andconfigured. The result is a system for upgrading existing mobile datanetworks as shown in FIG. 1 in a way that does not require extensivehardware or software changes to the existing equipment. The MIOPservices herein can thus be performed without requiring significantcapital expenditures to replace or reprogram existing equipment.

Referring to FIG. 24, one suitable hardware architecture for MIOP@NodeB2410 is shown. MIOP@NodeB 2410 is one specific implementation forMIOP@NodeB 210 shown in FIGS. 2, 4 and 17. MIOP@NodeB 2410 is onesuitable example of a breakout component that may be incorporated intoan existing mobile data network. The specific architecture was developedbased on a balance between needed function and cost. The hardwarecomponents shown in FIG. 24 may be common off-the-shelf components. Theyare interconnected and programmed in a way to provided needed functionwhile keeping the cost low by using off-the-shelf components. Thehardware components shown in FIG. 24 include a system controller 2412, aservice processor 2420, a security subsystem 2430, and a telco breakoutsubsystem 2450. In one suitable implementation for MIOP@NodeB 2410 shownin FIG. 24, the system controller 2412 is an x86 system. The serviceprocessor 2420 is an IBM Integrated Management Module version 2 (IMMv2).The security subsystem 2430 includes an ATMEL processor and anon-volatile memory such as a battery-backed RAM for holding keys. Thetelco breakout system 2450 performs the breakout functions forMIOP@NodeB 2410. In this specific implementation, the x86 and IMMv2 areboth on a motherboard that includes a Peripheral Component InterconnectExpress (PCIe) slot. A riser card plugged into the PCIe slot on themotherboard includes the security subsystem 2430, along with two PCIeslots for the telco breakout system 2450. The telco breakout system 2450may include a telco card and a breakout card that performs breakout asdescribed in detail above with respect to FIG. 17.

One suitable x86 processor that could serve as system controller 2412 isthe Intel Xeon E3-1220 processor. One suitable service processor 2420 isan IBM Renassas SH7757, but other known service processors could beused. One suitable processor for the security subsystem 2430 is an ATMELprocessor UC3L064, and one suitable non-volatile memory for the securitysubsystem 2430 is a DS3645 battery-backed RAM from Maxim. One suitableprocessor for the telco breakout subsystem 2450 is the Cavium Octeon IICN63XX.

Various functions of the MIOP@NodeB 2410 shown in FIG. 24 are dividedamongst the different components. Referring to FIG. 25, the systemcontroller 2412 implements an appliance mechanism 2510, a platformservices mechanism 2520, and an edge application serving mechanism 2530.The appliance mechanism 2510 provides an interface to MIOP@NodeB thathides the underlying hardware and software architecture by providing aninterface that allows configuring and using MIOP@NodeB without knowingthe details of the underlying hardware and software. The platformservices mechanism 2520 provides messaging support between thecomponents in MIOP@NodeB, allows managing the configuration of thehardware and software in MIOP@NodeB, and monitors the health of thecomponents in MIOP@NodeB. The edge application serving mechanism 2530allows software applications to run within MIOP@NodeB that perform oneor more mobile network services at the edge of the mobile data networkin response to broken-out data received from user equipment or sent touser equipment. In the most preferred implementation, the data brokenout and operated on by MIOP@NodeB is Internet Protocol (IP) datarequests received from the user equipment and IP data sent to the userequipment. The edge application service mechanism 2530 may serve bothapplications provided by the provider of the mobile data network, andmay also serve third party applications as well. The edge applicationserving mechanism 2530 provides a plurality of mobile network servicesto user equipment at the edge of the mobile data network in a way thatis mostly transparent to existing equipment in the mobile data network.

Referring to FIG. 26, the service processor 2420 includes a thermalmonitor/control mechanism 2610, a hardware monitor 2620, a fail-to-wirecontrol mechanism 2630, a key mechanism 2640, a system controllermonitor/reset mechanism 2650, and a display/indicator mechanism 2660.The thermal monitor/control mechanism 2610 monitors temperatures andactivates controls to address thermal conditions. For example, thethermal monitor 2610 monitors temperature within the MIOP@NodeBenclosure, and activates one or more fans within the enclosure when thetemperature exceeds some threshold. In addition, the thermalmonitor/control mechanism 2610 may also monitor temperature in thebasestation external to the MIOP@NodeB enclosure, and may controlenvironmental systems that heat and cool the basestation itself externalto the MIOP@NodeB enclosure. The hardware monitor 2620 monitors hardwarefor errors. Examples of hardware that could be monitored with hardwaremonitor 2620 include CPUs, memory, power supplies, etc. The hardwaremonitor 2620 could monitor any of the hardware within MIOP@NodeB 2410.

The fail-to-wire control mechanism 2630 is used to switch a fail-to-wireswitch to a first operational state when MIOP@NodeB is fully functionalthat causes data between the upstream computer system and the downstreamcomputer system to be processed by MIOP@NodeB 2410, and to a secondfailed state that causes data to be passed directly between the upstreamcomputer system and the downstream computer system without beingprocessed by MIOP@NodeB 2410. The key mechanism 2640 provides aninterface for accessing the security subsystem 2430. The systemcontroller monitor/reset mechanism 2650 monitors the state of the systemcontroller 2412, and resets the system controller 2412 when needed. Thedisplay/indicator mechanism 2660 activates a display and indicators onthe front panel of the MIOP@NodeB to provide a visual indication of thestatus of MIOP@NodeB.

Referring to FIG. 27, the security subsystem 2430 includes a key storage2702 that is a non-volatile storage for keys, such as a battery-backedRAM. The security subsystem 2430 further includes a key mechanism 2710and a tamper detection mechanism 2720. Key mechanism 2710 stores keys tothe non-volatile key storage 2702 and retrieves keys from thenon-volatile key storage 2702. Any suitable keys could be stored in thekey storage 2702. The security subsystem 2430 controls access to thekeys stored in key storage 2702 using key mechanism 2710. The tamperdetection mechanism 2720 detects physical tampering of MIOP@NodeB, andperforms functions to protect sensitive information within MIOP@NodeBwhen physical tampering is detected. The enclosure for MIOP@NodeBincludes tamper switches that are triggered if an unauthorized persontries to open the box. In response, the tamper detection mechanism maytake any suitable action, including actions to protect sensitiveinformation, such as not allowing MIOP@NodeB to boot the next time,erasing keys in key storage 2702, and actions to sound an alarm that thetampering has occurred.

Referring to FIG. 28, the telco breakout system 2450 includes a telcocard 2802, a breakout mechanism 2810, and an overlay network mechanism2820. Telco card 2802 is any suitable card for handling networkcommunications in the radio access network. Breakout mechanism 2810 isone specific implementation for breakout mechanism 410 shown in FIG. 4.Breakout mechanism 2810 performs the breakout functions as described indetail above. The breakout mechanism 2810 interrupts the connectionbetween the NodeB and the next upstream component in the radio accessnetwork, such as the RNC, as shown in FIG. 2. Non-broken out data fromthe upstream component is simply passed through MIOP@NodeB to the NodeB.Non-broken out data from the NodeB is simply passed through MIOP@NodeBto the upstream component. Note the path for non-broken out data is thetraditional path for data in the mobile data network before the MIOPcomponents were added. Broken-out data is intercepted by MIOP@NodeB, andmay be appropriate processed at MIOP@NodeB, or may be routed to anupstream component via a different data path, such as to MIOP@RNC viathe overlay network. The telco breakout system 2450 includes an overlaynetwork mechanism 2820 that allows MIOP@NodeB 2410 to communicate viathe overlay network. For example, MIOP@NodeB 2410 could use overlaynetwork mechanism 2820 to communicate with MIOP@RNC 220 or tocommunicate with other MIOP@NodeBs.

The edge application mechanism 2530 may provide many different mobilenetwork services. Examples of some of these services are shown in FIG.29. This specific implementation for edge application mechanism 2530includes an edge caching mechanism 2910, a push-based service mechanism2920, a third party edge application serving mechanism 2930, ananalytics mechanism 2940, a filtering mechanism 2950, arevenue-producing service mechanism 2960, and a charging mechanism 2970.The edge caching mechanism 2910 is one suitable implementation of edgecache mechanism 1730 shown in FIG. 17, and includes the functionsdescribed above with respect to FIG. 17. The push-based servicemechanism 2920 provides support for any suitable push-based service,whether currently known or developed in the future. Examples of knownpush-based services include without limitation incoming text messages,incoming e-mail, instant messaging, peer-to-peer file transfers, etc.

The third party edge application serving mechanism 2930 allows runningthird party applications that provide mobile network services at theedge of the mobile data network. The capability provided by the thirdparty edge application serving mechanism 2930 opens up new ways togenerate revenue in the mobile data network. The operator of the mobiledata network may generate revenue both from third parties that offeredge applications and from subscribers who purchase or use edgeapplications. Third party applications for user equipment has become avery profitable business. By also providing third party applicationsthat can run at the edge of the mobile data network, the experience ofthe user can be enhanced. For example, face recognition software is verycompute-intensive. If the user were to download an application to theuser equipment to perform face recognition in digital photographs, theperformance of the user equipment could suffer. Instead, the user couldsubscribe to or purchase a third party application that runs at the edgeof the mobile data network (executed by the third party edge applicationserving mechanism 2930) that performs face recognition. This would allowa subscriber to upload a photo and have the hardware resources inMIOP@NodeB perform the face recognition instead of performing the facerecognition on the user equipment. We see from this simple example it ispossible to perform a large number of different functions at the edge ofthe mobile data network that were previously performed in the userequipment or upstream in the mobile data network. By providingapplications at the edge of the mobile data network, the quality ofservice for subscribers increases.

The analytics mechanism 2940 performs analysis of broken-out data. Theresults of the analysis may be used for any suitable purpose or in anysuitable way. For example, the analytics mechanism 2940 could analyze IPtraffic on MIOP@NodeB, and use the results of the analysis to moreintelligently cache IP data by edge caching mechanism 2910. In addition,the analytics mechanism 2940 makes other revenue-producing servicespossible. For example, the analytics mechanism 2940 could track IPtraffic and provide advertisements targeted to user equipment in aparticular geographic area served by the basestation. Because data isbeing broken out at MIOP@NodeB, the analytics mechanism 2940 may performany suitable analysis on the broken out data for any suitable purpose.

The filtering mechanism 2950 allows filtering content delivered to theuser equipment by MIOP@NodeB. For example, the filtering mechanism 2950could block access to adult websites by minors. This could be done, forexample, via an application on the user equipment or via a third partyedge application that would inform MIOP@NodeB of access restrictions,which the filtering mechanism 2950 could enforce. The filteringmechanism 2950 could also filter data delivered to the user equipmentbased on preferences specified by the user. For example, if thesubscriber is an economist and wants news feeds regarding economicissues, and does not want to read news stories relating to elections orpolitics, the subscriber could specify to exclude all stories thatinclude the word “election” or “politics” in the headline. Of course,many other types of filtering could be performed by the filteringmechanism 2950. The filtering mechanism 2950 preferably performs anysuitable data filtering function or functions, whether currently knownor developed in the future.

The revenue-producing service mechanism 2960 provides new opportunitiesfor the provider of the mobile data network to generate revenue based onthe various functions MIOP@NodeB provides. An example was given abovewhere the analytics mechanism 2940 can perform analysis of data brokenout by MIOP@NodeB, and this analysis could be provided by therevenue-producing service mechanism 2960 to interested parties for aprice, thereby providing a new way to generate revenue in the mobiledata network. Revenue-producing service mechanism 2960 broadlyencompasses any way to generate revenue in the mobile data network basedon the specific services provided by any of the MIOP components.

The charging mechanism 2970 provides a way for MIOP@NodeB to inform theupstream components in the mobile data network when the subscriberaccesses data that should incur a charge. Because data may be providedto the subscriber directly by MIOP@NodeB without that data flowingthrough the normal channels in the mobile data network, the chargingmechanism 2970 provides a way for MIOP@NodeB to charge the subscriberfor services provided by MIOP@NodeB of which the core network is notaware. The charging mechanism 2970 tracks the activity of the user thatshould incur a charge, then informs a charging application in the corenetwork that is responsible for charging the subscriber of the chargesthat should be billed.

The hardware architecture of MIOP@NodeB shown in FIGS. 24-29 allowsMIOP@NodeB to function in a way that is mostly transparent to existingequipment in the mobile data network. For example, if an IP request fromuser equipment may be satisfied from data held in a cache by edgecaching mechanism 2910, the data may be delivered directly to the userequipment by MIOP@NodeB without traversing the entire mobile datanetwork to reach the Internet to retrieve the needed data. This cangreatly improve the quality of service for subscribers by performing somany useful functions at the edge of the mobile data network. The corenetwork will have no idea that MIOP@NodeB handled the data request,which means the backhaul on the mobile data network is significantlyreduced. The MIOP components disclosed herein thus provide a way tosignificantly improve performance in a mobile data network by adding theMIOP components to an existing mobile data network without affectingmost of the functions that already existed in the mobile data network.

The mobile data network 200 disclosed herein includes MIOP componentsthat provide a variety of different services that are not possible inprior art mobile data network 100. In the most preferred implementation,the MIOP components do not affect voice traffic in the mobile datanetwork. In addition to performing optimizations that will enhanceperformance in the form of improved download speeds, lower latency foraccess, or improved quality of experience in viewing multimedia on themobile data network, the MIOP architecture also provides additionalcapabilities that may produce new revenue-generating activities for thecarrier. For example, analytics may be performed on subscriber sessionsthat allow targeting specific subscribers with additional services fromthe carrier to generate additional revenue. For example, subscriberscongregating for a live music event may be sent promotions on paid formedia related to that event. In another example, subscribers getting offa train may be sent a coupon promoting a particular shuttle company asthey walk up the platform towards the street curb. Also, premium webcontent in the form of video or other multimedia may be served fromlocal storage and the subscriber would pay for the additional contentand quality of service.

MIOP@NodeB is preferably an appliance. The difference between atraditional hardware/software solution and an appliance is the applianceinterface hides the underlying hardware and software configuration fromthe users of the appliance, whether the user is a man or a machine.Appliances for different applications are known in the art. For example,a network switch is one example of a known appliance. A network switchtypically provides a web-based interface for configuring the switch withthe appropriate configuration parameters. From the web-based interface,it is impossible to tell the internal hardware and softwareconfiguration of a network switch. The only commands available in theweb-based interface for the network switch are those commands needed toconfigure and otherwise control the function of the network switch.Other functions that might be supported in the hardware are hidden bythe appliance interface. This allows an interface that is independentfrom the hardware and software implementation within the appliance. Insimilar fashion, MIOP@NodeB is preferably an appliance with a definedinterface that makes certain functions needed to configured and operateMIOP@NodeB available while hiding the details of the underlying hardwareand software. This allows the hardware and software configuration ofMIOP@NodeB to change over time without having to change the applianceinterface. The appliance aspects of MIOP@NodeB are implemented withinthe appliance mechanism 2510 in FIG. 25.

One suitable implementation of the appliance mechanism 2510 is shown inFIG. 30. In this implementation, appliance mechanism 2510 includesmultiple appliance interfaces and multiple appliance functions. Whilemultiple appliance interfaces are shown in FIG. 30, the disclosure andclaims herein also extend to an appliance with a single interface aswell. Appliance interfaces 3010 include a command line interface (CLI)3012, a web services interface 3014, a simple network managementprotocol (SNMP) interface 3016, and a secure copy (SCP) interface 3018.The appliance functions 3020 include configuration management 3022,performance management 3024, fault/diagnostic management 3026, securitymanagement 3028, network management 3030, breakout management 3032,appliance platform management 3034, edge application management 3036,alarm management 3038, file transfer management 3040, and overloadmanagement 3042. Additional details regarding the appliance interfaces3010 and appliance functions 3020 are provided below.

The command line interface 3012 is a primary external interface to theMIOP@NodeB appliance. In the specific implementation shown in FIG. 30,the command line interface 3012 provides most of the appliance functions3020, which are described in more detail below. Those commands notprovided in command line interface 3012 are provided by the SNMPinterface 3016 or the SCP interface 3018, as described in detail belowwith reference to FIG. 43.

The web services interface 3014 is another primary external interface tothe MIOP@NodeB appliance. In the specific implementation shown in FIG.30, the web services interface 3014 provides all the same functions asthe command line interface 3012.

The SNMP interface 3016 is an interface to the MIOP@NodeB appliance thatis used by an external entity such as MIOP@NMS or MIOP@RNC to receivealarms from MIOP@NodeB. For example, if a fan failed on the MIOP@NodeBappliance, a “fan failed” SNMP trap could be raised by MIOP@NodeB. Amonitor running on MIOP@NMS could catch this trap, and any suitableaction could be taken in response, including alerting a systemadministrator of the mobile data network, who could take correctiveaction, such as dispatching a repair crew to the basestation thatincludes the MIOP@NodeB appliance to repair the defective fan or replacethe MIOP@NodeB appliance. Once the repair is made, the MIOP@NMS wouldclear the SNMP trap, which would communicate to the MIOP@NodeB that therepair was made. In one specific implementation, the SNMP interfaceincludes only the functions for alarm management 3038. The SNMPinterface can also be used as a way to request and send informationbetween two network entities, such as MIOP@NodeB and MIOP@RNC, orbetween MIOP@NodeB and MIOP@NMS. However, the SCP interface 3018provides a more preferred interface for transferring data between twonetwork entities.

The SCP interface 3018 is an interface based on the Secure Shell (SSH)protocol, such as that typically used in Linux and Unix systems. SCPinterface 3018 thus provides a secure way to transfer informationbetween two network entities. The SCP interface 3018 could be used, forexample, by MIOP@NMS to transfer configuration information or softwareupdates to MIOP@NodeB. The SCP interface 3018 could likewise be used totransfer audit logs, diagnostic information, performance data, orbackups of the appliance configuration from MIOP@NodeB to MIOP@NMS.Implementing SCP is easy given the SSH already provided on MIOP@NodeBthat provides a secure shell for the command line interface 3012 to runin. In one specific implementation, the SCP interface 3018 includes onlythe functions for file transfer management 3040.

FIG. 31 shows a method 3100 for defining the appliance interfaces andfunctions for the MIOP@NodeB appliance. The appliance interfaces aredefined (step 3110). The appliance commands are defined (step 3120). Theappliance commands allowed for each appliance interface are thenspecified (step 3130). For example, the table in FIG. 43 shows for eachset of appliance functions shown in FIG. 30, which of the interfacesimplement which commands. While the table in FIG. 43 shows differentinterfaces for different commands, it is equally possible to havemultiple interfaces that implement the same command. Note the MIOP@NodeBcan include any suitable number of interfaces and any suitable number ofcommands defined on each of those interfaces.

The various appliance functions 3020 shown in FIG. 30 may be implementedusing different commands. Examples of some suitable commands are shownin FIGS. 32-42. Referring to FIG. 32, configuration management functions3022 may include breakout configuration commands 3210, edge cacheconfiguration commands 3220, platform configuration commands 3230,network configuration commands 3240, firmware/hardware configurationcommands 3250, security configuration commands 3260, and edgeapplication configuration commands 3270. The breakout configurationcommands 3210 include commands to configure the breakout mechanism inMIOP@NodeB. The edge cache configuration commands 3220 include commandsto configure caching of IP data within MIOP@NodeB. Platformconfiguration commands 3230 include commands to configure MIOP@NodeB.Network configuration commands 3240 include commands to configurenetwork connections in MIOP@NodeB. Firmware/hardware configurationcommands 3250 include commands to configure the firmware or hardwarewithin MIOP@NodeB. Security configuration commands 3260 include commandsto configure security settings in MIOP@NodeB. Edge applicationconfiguration commands 3270 allow configuring applications that run onMIOP@NodeB to provide services with respect to IP data exchanged withuser equipment. These may include native applications and third partyapplications.

Referring to FIG. 33, performance management functions 3024 may includecollect performance indicators commands 3310, counters commands 3320,and analysis commands 3330. The collect performance indicators commands3310 include commands that allow collecting key performance indicators(KPIs) from MIOP@NodeB. The counters commands 3320 include commands thatset or clear counters that measure performance in MIOP@NodeB. Theanalysis commands 3330 include commands that perform analysis ofperformance parameters within MIOP@NodeB. For example, analysis commands3330 could perform summations of key performance indicators for a giventime period.

Referring to FIG. 34, fault/diagnostic management functions 3026 mayinclude log control commands 3410, fault control commands 3420, andsystem health commands 3430. Log control commands 3410 include commandsthat collect logs, prune existing logs, purge existing logs, and setlogging parameters. Fault control commands 3420 include commands thatconfigure fault targets and view faults that have not been resolved.System health commands 3430 include commands that allowing viewingsystem health and taking actions in response to faults, such asrestarting breakout, shutdown of MIOP@NodeB, etc.

Referring to FIG. 35, security management functions 3029 include twodifferent classes of security commands, manufacturing security commands3510 and operational security commands 3520. The manufacturing securitycommands 3510 include key commands 3512, digital certificate commands3514, system state commands 3516, and hardware diagnostic commands 3518.The manufacturing security commands 3510 are used during manufacture ofMIOP@NodeB to perform security functions. The key commands 3512 includecommands to load security/encryption keys. The digital certificatecommands 3514 include commands to communicate with a trusted server tosign digital certificates. The system state commands 3516 includecommands to read and modify the state of MIOP@NodeB. System statecommands 3516 could be used, for example, to modify the state ofMIOP@NodeB from a manufacturing state to an operational state. Thehardware diagnostic commands 3518 include commands that run hardwareexercisers to verify the MIOP@NodeB is functional. The operationalsecurity commands 3520 include audit record commands 3522, which includecommands that allow reviewing and auditing records that track thesecurity functions performed by MIOP@NodeB.

Referring to FIG. 36, the network management commands 3030 includenetwork setup commands 3610, network status commands 3620, and networkdiagnostic commands 3630. Network setup commands 3610 include commandsthat setup network connections in MIOP@NodeB. Network status commands3620 include commands that allow showing network status, statistics,neighboring MIOP@NodeB systems, and current network configuration.Network diagnostic commands 3630 include commands for networkdiagnostics and tests, such as pinging an interface to see if itresponds. Note the configuration management functions 3022 shown in FIG.32 include network configuration commands, which can be used toconfigure network connections in MIOP@NodeB both during manufacturing aswell as when the MIOP@NodeB is made operational in a mobile datanetwork.

Referring to FIG. 37, the breakout management functions 3032 may includebreakout stop/start commands 3710 and breakout status commands 3720. Thebreakout stop/start commands 3710 include commands to stop and startbreakout in MIOP@NodeB. The breakout status commands 3720 includecommands to determine the state of breakout on MIOP@NodeB.

Referring to FIG. 38, the appliance platform management functions 3034may include status commands 3810, component commands 3820, healthcommands 3830, software configuration commands 3840, SNMP trap commands3840, and appliance commands 3860. The status commands 3810 may includecommands that show the health status and overload status of MIOP@NodeB.The component commands 3820 include commands that list components withinMIOP@NodeB and their versions. The health commands 3830 include commandsthat monitor the health of MIOP@NodeB, such as commands that respond tohealth and overload issues. The software configuration commands 3840include commands to upgrade or rollback software running on MIOP@NodeB.The SNMP trap commands 3850 include commands to set SNMP trapdestinations and define SNMP trap actions. The appliance commands 3860include commands to reboot MIOP@NodeB, put MIOP@NodeB to sleep for someperiod of time, and reset MIOP@NodeB to its manufacturing defaults.

Referring to FIG. 39, the edge application management functions 3036include native edge application commands 3910 and third party edgeapplication commands 3920. The native edge application commands 3910include commands to configure and manage native edge applications inMIOP@NodeB. The third party edge application commands 3920 includecommands to install, configure and manage third party applications inMIOP@NodeB.

Referring to FIG. 40, the alarm management functions 3038 include alarmconfiguration commands 4010 and alarm status commands 4020. The alarmconfiguration commands 4010 include commands to configure alarms inMIOP@NodeB. The alarm status commands 4020 include commands to determinethe status of alarms in MIOP@NodeB or to clear previously raised alarmson MIOP@NodeB. In one particular implementation, the alarm managementfunctions 3038 are available via the SNMP interface 3016. In thisconfiguration, SNMP is used by MIOP@NodeB to raise alarms that are beingmonitored. For example, if a fan failed on the MIOP@NodeB appliance, a“fan failed” SNMP trap could be raised by the MIOP@NodeB. This trapwould be caught by a monitor running on MIOP@NMS, and an alert would begiven to a system administrator monitoring the mobile data network. Thesystem administrator could then take corrective action, such asdispatching a repair crew to the basestation to repair the failed fan.Once the failure is fixed, the system administrator can clear the alarmby sending a clear SNMP trap to MIOP@NodeB.

Referring to FIG. 41, the file transfer management functions 3040include file transfer commands 4110 that allow transferring files to andfrom MIOP@NodeB. In one particular implementation, the file transfercommands 4110 are available via the SCP interface 3018. The filetransfer commands 4110 include commands in a Secure Shell (SSH), whichis a network protocol used to remote shell access to the MIOP@NodeBappliance. SSH is very commonly used for secure shell access on Linuxand Unix systems. Secure Copy (SCP) runs in SSH and allows securelycopying files between systems. The SCP interface 3018 thus provides filetransfer commands 4110 that allow transferring files to and fromMIOP@NodeB. For example, configuration files or software updates couldbe transferred to MIOP@NodeB, while audit logs, diagnostic information,performance data, and backups of the appliance configuration could betransferred from the MIOP@NodeB.

Referring to FIG. 42, the overload management functions 3042 includeoverload configuration commands 4210, overload monitoring commands 4220,and overload handling commands 4230. The overload configuration commands4210 include commands to configure overload monitoring and handling inthe MIOP@NodeB appliance. The overload monitoring commands 4220 includecommands that determine how overload monitoring is performed on theMIOP@NodeB appliance. The overload handling commands 4230 includecommands that determine how overload handling is performed on theMIOP@NodeB appliance.

FIG. 43 shows how commands may be defined for interfaces in one specificexample. The command line interface implements all configurationmanagement commands except for file transfer commands, which areimplemented in the SCP interface. The command line interface implementsall performance management commands except for file transfer commands,which are implemented in the SCP interface. The command line interfaceimplements all fault/diagnostic management commands except for alarmtraps, which are implemented in the SNMP interface, and file transfercommands, which are implemented in the SCP interface. The command lineinterface implements all security management commands except for filetransfer commands, which are implemented in the SCP interface. Thecommand line interface implements all network management commands andall breakout management commands. The command line interface implementsall appliance platform management commands except for file transfercommands, which are implemented in the SCP interface. The command lineinterface implements all edge application management commands except forfile transfer commands, which are implemented in the SCP interface. TheSNMP interface implements all alarm management commands. The SCPinterface implements all file transfer management commands. The commandline interface implements all overload management commands. Of course,FIG. 43 is one suitable example of specifying which appliance commandsare implemented in different interfaces. The disclosure and claimsherein expressly extend to defining any suitable number of commands onany suitable number of interfaces, including commands implemented inmultiple interfaces.

A block diagram view of the MIOP@NodeB appliance 2410 is shown in FIG.44. MIOP@NodeB appliance 2410 includes an enclosure 4410, hardware 4420and software 4430. The hardware 4420 includes network connections 4440to a downstream computer system, such as a NodeB in a basestation.Hardware 4420 also includes network connections 4450 to an upstreamcomputer system, such as an RNC. The software 4430 includes the breakoutmechanism 2810 shown in FIG. 28, and the appliance mechanism 2510 shownin FIG. 25. This simple block diagram in FIG. 44 shows the encapsulationof hardware and software within an enclosure into an appliance view,where the appliance defines one or more interfaces with commands thatare allowed to be performed on the MIOP@NodeB appliance. Creating aMIOP@NodeB appliance 2510 as shown in FIG. 44 and discussed in detailherein allows changing the implementation of hardware and softwarewithin the appliance while maintaining the consistent applianceinterface. This allows the design and functionality of the MIOP@NodeBappliance to evolve over time while maintaining the same interfaces andcommands. As a result, the MIOP@NodeB hardware and software can bechanged dramatically without affecting how external components interactwith MIOP@NodeB. Of course, changes in design and improvements inperformance may give rise to new commands that could be defined in theMIOP@NodeB appliance. Note, however, that defining new commands inMIOP@NodeB would not affect the compatibility of MIOP@NodeB with othercomponents in the mobile data network that do not need the new commands.As a result, the MIOP@NodeB appliance is backwards compatible with allearlier versions of MIOP@NodeB.

Referring to FIG. 45, a block diagram is shown that is similar to theblock diagram in FIG. 24. Appliance 4510 is one suitable implementationof appliance 2410 shown in FIG. 24, and includes an overload manager4512 in the system controller 2412, and overload agents 4520, 4530 and4550 in the service processor 2420, security subsystem 2430 and telcobreakout system 2450, respectively. The overload manager 4512 may beimplemented within the appliance mechanism 2510 as part of the overloadmanagement 3042 shown in FIG. 30, or may be implemented separate fromthe appliance mechanism 2510 with one or more appropriate interfacesthat allow the overload management 3042 in the appliance mechanism 2510to access the overload manager 4512.

In a mobile data network, there may be hundreds or thousands ofbasestations, any number of which could include the MIOP@NodeBappliance. To meet stringent performance standards in a mobile datanetwork, the appliance must be self-monitoring and self-healing to theextent possible. Because each MIOP@NodeB appliance includes a complexcombination of hardware and software in multiple subsystems, overloadmonitoring and handling requires interaction between the overloadmanager and all subsystems. Overload monitoring and handling inMIOP@NodeB includes tracking resource usage of all appliance components,including subsystems, processes, network bandwidth, etc. The resourceusage is then compared to expected values. Multiple status levels aredefined to indicate whether an overload condition exists, and if so, theseverity of the overload condition. Once the overload condition isdetected and its severity is determined, one or more actions may betaken in an attempt to correct the overload condition. These actions arearranged in a hierarchy so that one or more low impact actions are triedfirst, followed by one or more high impact actions if the low impactactions do not correct the overload condition. If neither low impactactions nor high impact actions correct the overload condition, thefinal action in the hierarchy will shut down the MIOP@NodeB appliance.

In the specific configuration shown in FIG. 45, the overload manager4512 receives overload information from the overload agents in the othersubsystems in the appliance. Because the overload manager 4512 runs onthe system controller 2412, the overload manager can perform theoverload monitoring functions for the system controller 2412 that areperformed by the overload agents for other subsystems. The exchange ofoverload information between the overload manager 4512 and the overloadagents 4520, 4530 and 4540 may occur in any suitable way. For example,the overload manager 4512 could poll each overload agent. In thealternative, each overload agent could notify the overload manager 4512when an overload is detected. This notification could take any suitableform, including a network message, calling an application programminginterface (API), generating a software trap, generating a hardwareinterrupt, etc. The notification could be an indication of currentoverload status, or could simply be performance parameters from whichthe overload manager will determine the corresponding overload status.The overload manager/overload agent arrangement thus allows flexibilityin determining what overload functions are performed in differentlocations in the MIOP@NodeB appliance.

One particular implementation for the overload manager is shown in FIG.46. In this implementation, the overload manager 4512 includes overloadconditions 4610 and corresponding overload thresholds 4620, overloadstatus 4630 and status levels 4640, and overload actions 4650 andoverload action levels 4660. Simple examples will illustrate. Referringto FIG. 47, sample overload conditions 4610 include CPU 4710, memory4712, network 4714, breakout 4716, edge application 4718, and operatingsystem 4720. Each overload condition 4610 has one or more correspondingoverload thresholds 4620. Thus, the CPU overload condition 4710 has oneor more corresponding CPU thresholds 4730; the memory overload condition4712 has one or more corresponding memory thresholds 4732; the networkoverload condition 4714 has one or more corresponding network thresholds4734; the breakout overload condition 4716 has one or more correspondingbreakout thresholds 4736; the edge application overload condition 4718has one or more corresponding edge application thresholds 4738; and theoperating system overload condition 4720 has one or more correspondingoperating system thresholds 4740. The overload thresholds 4620 mayspecify multiple thresholds that correspond to different status levels.Thus, a first CPU threshold could be defined to indicate a mildoverload, while a second CPU threshold could be defined to indicate asevere CPU overload. The same goes for all of the overload thresholds.Each overload condition 4610 preferably includes one or morecorresponding overload thresholds that allow the overload manager todetermine the severity of the corresponding overload condition.

One suitable implementation for overload status 4630 and itscorresponding status levels 4640 is shown in FIG. 48. The overloadstatus 4810 includes three status levels 4820, namely: green, indicatingno overload; yellow, indicating mild overload; and red, indicatingsevere overload. By providing multiple status levels, the overloadmanager can determine the overload status of each subsystem and eachcondition in each subsystem on a scale that indicates the severity of adetected overload.

One suitable implementation for overload actions 4650 and itscorresponding overload action levels 4660 is shown in FIG. 49. Overloadactions 4910 specify actions according to the overload action levels4920. Overload action levels 4920 include low impact actions, highimpact actions, and a shut down and fail to wire action. The overloadactions may thus be arranged in a hierarchy that allows attempting lowimpact actions first to address an overload condition, followed by ahigh impact action, and if neither are successful in correcting theoverload, the appliance may be shut down. Note that shutting down theappliance requires that the absence of the appliance not negativelyimpact the other components in the mobile data network. Thus, theappliance must shut down in a manner that its failure is invisible tothe network after the failure occurs. This is referred to herein as“fail to wire”, which means that shutting down the MIOP@NodeB appliancewill result in switches routing data from the downstream computer systemto the upstream computer system, and vice versa, without interruption.In other words, after the MIOP@NodeB appliance is shut down, itessentially disappears and does not negatively impact the performance ofthe remaining components in the mobile data network.

One suitable implementation for the overload agents 4520, 4530 and 4550in FIG. 45 is shown as overload agent 5010 in FIG. 50. The overloadagent 5010 preferably includes an overload monitor 5020 and an overloadstatus reporter 5030. The overload monitor 5020 monitors performance ina subsystem, and reports the overload status using the overload statusreporter 5030. Note this can be done in any suitable manner. In a firstexample, the overload monitor 5020 determines performance parameters fora subsystem, and reports those performance parameters to the overloadmanager. The performance parameters may related to any of the overloadconditions, such as those shown in FIG. 47 to include CPU, memory,network, breakout, edge application, and operating system. Not all ofthese parameters exist in all subsystems. For example, breakout is donein the telco breakout subsystem 2450, so the overload agent 4550 in thetelco breakout system will report overload with respect to breakout.Because the service processor 2420 and security subsystem 2430 do notperform breakout, their respective overload agents 4520 and 4530 willnot monitor or report any overload with respect to breakout. Eachoverload agent may monitor and report performance in its subsystem asrelates to overload, and will monitor and report based on things in itssubsystem that need to be monitored for overload. The overload managerwill compare the performance parameters received from the overloadagents to the corresponding overload thresholds to determine when anoverload occurs. In a second example, the overload monitor 5020determines performance parameters for a subsystem, compares thoseperformance parameters to defined overload conditions and thresholds,and reports via the overload status reporter 5030 a status level for thesubsystem (such as green, yellow or red). The system thus hasflexibility in determining where the overload functions are performed.

Referring to FIG. 51, examples of low impact actions 5100 are shown toinclude halting of breakout of new contexts, notifying an edgeapplication to refuse service for any new broken out contexts, reducingfrequency or priority of platform services agents, and halting downloadof upgrades or new cache content. Referring to FIG. 52, examples of highimpact actions 5200 are shown to include offloading of broken outcontexts to neighboring MIOP@NodeBs, shutting down or killing processes,stopping breakout of existing sessions, and shutting down an edgeapplication.

Referring to FIG. 53, method 5300 represents steps performed by theoverload manager working in concert with the overload agents in eachsubsystem. The MIOP@NodeB systems are monitored for overload (step5310). When there is no overload (step 5320=NO), method 5300 loops backto step 5310 to continue monitoring for overloads. When an overload isdetected (step 5320=YES), if there is a low impact action available forthe detected overload (step 5330=YES), the low impact action isperformed (step 5340). If the overload condition is corrected as aresult of performing the low impact action (step 5350=YES), method 5300loops back to step 5310 to continue monitoring for overloads. When theoverload condition is not corrected by performing the low impact action(step 5350=NO), if there is a high impact action available (step5360=YES), the high impact action is performed (step 5370). Ifperforming the high impact action corrects the overload condition (step5380=YES), method 5300 loops back to step 5310 to continue monitoringfor overloads. When the overload condition is not corrected byperforming the high impact action (step 5380=NO), the MIOP@NodeBappliance is shut down, and the fail to wire mechanism is activated(step 5390) so data is passed directly from upstream components todownstream components without interruption, and so data is passeddirectly from downstream components to upstream components withoutinterruption. Note there may not always be both a low impact action anda high impact action for a detected overload. When there is no lowimpact action available (step 5330=NO), a check is made to see if thereis a high impact action available (step 5360). If not (step 5360=NO),the appliance is shut down and fail to wire is activated (step 5390).The overload manager thus provides a hierarchy of actions that may betaken to address overload conditions in the MIOP@NodeB appliance,allowing the MIOP@NodeB appliance to monitor itself for overloadconditions and take appropriate steps to correct the overload conditionsdepending on the severity of the overload. In this manner the MIOP@NodeBappliance is self-monitoring and self-healing to the greatest extentpossible.

While the mobile data network in FIG. 2 and discussed herein is in thecontext of a 3G mobile data network, the disclosure and claims hereinexpressly extend to other networks as well, including Long TermEvolution (LTE) networks, flat RAN networks, and code division multipleaccess (CDMA) networks.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the presentinvention may be embodied as a system, method or computer programproduct. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the formof an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment(including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or anembodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may allgenerally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.”Furthermore, aspects of the present invention may take the form of acomputer program product embodied in one or more computer readablemedium(s) having computer readable program code embodied thereon.

Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may beutilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signalmedium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readablestorage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic,magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system,apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. Morespecific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readablestorage medium would include the following: an electrical connectionhaving one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, arandom access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber,a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storagedevice, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storagemedium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a programfor use by or in connection with an instruction execution system,apparatus, or device.

A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signalwith computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, inbaseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may takeany of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to,electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. Acomputer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium thatis not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate,propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmittedusing any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless,wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination ofthe foregoing.

Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of thepresent invention may be written in any combination of one or moreprogramming languages, including an object oriented programming languagesuch as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional proceduralprogramming languages, such as the “C” programming language, StreamsProcessing language, or similar programming languages. The program codemay execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user'scomputer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user'scomputer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remotecomputer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may beconnected to the user's computer through any type of network, includinga local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or theconnection may be made to an external computer (for example, through theInternet using an Internet Service Provider).

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer program instructions. These computer program instructions maybe provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, specialpurpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus toproduce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via theprocessor of the computer or other programmable data processingapparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified inthe flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computerreadable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable dataprocessing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readablemedium produce an article of manufacture including instructions whichimplement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer,other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to causea series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, otherprogrammable apparatus or other devices to produce a computerimplemented process such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer or other programmable apparatus provide processes forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

The methods disclosed herein may be performed as part of providing aweb-based service. Such a service could include, for example, offeringthe method to online users in exchange for payment.

The disclosure and claims are directed to a mobile data network thatincludes an appliance that performs one or more mobile data services inthe mobile data network. The appliance breaks out data coming from abasestation, and performs one or more mobile network services at theedge of the mobile data network based on the broken out data. Theappliance has defined interfaces and defined commands on each interfacethat allow performing all needed functions on the appliance withoutrevealing details regarding the hardware and software used to implementthe appliance. The appliance includes overload detection and handlingwithin the appliance. This appliance architecture allows performing newmobile network services at the edge of a mobile data network within theinfrastructure of an existing mobile data network.

One skilled in the art will appreciate that many variations are possiblewithin the scope of the claims. Thus, while the disclosure isparticularly shown and described above, it will be understood by thoseskilled in the art that these and other changes in form and details maybe made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of theclaims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method for processing data packets in amobile data network that includes a radio access network coupled to acore network, the method comprising the steps of: (A) a plurality ofantennas sending and receiving network messages between user equipmentand a plurality of basestations in the radio access network, eachbasestation communicating with a corresponding one of the plurality ofantennas; (B) providing in one of the plurality of basestations anappliance comprising: an enclosure; hardware within the enclosure, thehardware comprising: first network connections for sending and receivingdata to a downstream computer system that communicates with the userequipment; second network connections for sending and receiving data toand from an upstream computer system in the radio access network;software executing on the hardware, the software comprising: a firstservice mechanism that defines an existing first data path in the radioaccess network for non-broken out data, defines a second data path forbroken out data, identifies first data corresponding to first userequipment received from a corresponding basestation as data to be brokenout, sends the first data on the second data path, and forwards otherdata that is not broken out on the first data path, wherein the firstservice mechanism provides a first service with respect to internetprotocol (IP) data sent to the first user equipment in response to an IPdata request in the first data from the first user equipment; and anoverload manager that monitors overload conditions in the hardware andsoftware, determines a status level for a detected overload condition,and autonomically performs at least one overload action corresponding tothe detected overload condition to address the detected overloadcondition; (C) configuring the overload manager to autonomically performthe at least one overload action in response to the detected overloadcondition in the appliance; and (D) the overload manager detecting thedetected overload condition, and in response, the overload managerperforming at least one overload action corresponding to the detectedoverload condition to address the detected overload condition.
 2. Themethod of claim 1 wherein the software further comprises an appliancemechanism comprising: an interface for equipment external to theappliance to interact with the appliance, wherein the interface hidesdetails of the hardware and the software within the appliance; and aplurality of commands for the interface, wherein the plurality ofcommands includes overload management commands for managing overloadconditions within the appliance.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein thestatus level for the detected overload condition is selected from thegroup mild and severe.
 4. The method of claim 3 further comprising aplurality of overload action levels in a hierarchy comprising low impactactions, high impact actions, and shut down.
 5. The method of claim 4further comprising the step of the overload manager performing a lowimpact action when the status level for the detected overload conditionis mild.
 6. The method of claim 5 further comprising the step of theoverload manger performing a high impact action when the status levelfor the detected overload condition is severe.
 7. The method of claim 6further comprising the step of the overload manager shutting down theappliance when the high impact action does not correct the detectedoverload condition.
 8. The method of claim 5 further comprising the stepof the overload manager performing a high impact action when the lowimpact action does not correct the detected overload condition.
 9. Themethod of claim 8 further comprising the step of the overload managershutting down the appliance when the high impact action does not correctthe detected overload condition.